S03E04 - Tripwire

"Tripwire" is the fourth episode of Season 3 of We Can Fix Pawbert.

Synopsis

Luther uses his cellmate Krazek to broker an introduction with Stripes, the A-Block gang boss, and joins the crew facilitating the conspiracy. Pawbert continues observing suspicious activity in the kitchen. Their paths cross violently when Luther shoves Pawbert in the yard to maintain cover. That night, Luther follows the weasel courier and discovers the protective custody fire was deliberate and bypass nodes have been installed throughout the facility.

Plot

On Day 124, Luther wakes in his A-Block cell with his cellmate Krazek already watching him. The hyena, emboldened by Luther's silence the night before, proposes a way to bridge the gap with Stripes, the tiger gang boss Luther publicly rejected on his first day. Krazek argues that approaching Stripes on his own terms would demonstrate strength rather than weakness. Luther recognizes the tactical opportunity and agrees.

At breakfast in the mess hall, Krazek brokers the introduction. Luther approaches Stripes' center table and positions himself as an asset rather than a supplicant, arguing that someone who refuses orders blindly is more valuable than someone who folds. After a tense moment of assessment, Stripes accepts him into the crew. The gang reveals they are facilitating an operation targeting protective custody—a "party" within the week—though they don't know the actual target. Luther absorbs every fragment of intelligence while appearing disinterested.

Pawbert wakes in his gen pop cell, hands empty without the STAY notebook he left behind during the fire evacuation. The puma cellmate—the one Pawbert scratched across the face the night before—proposes a wary truce: stay out of each other's way. During kitchen duty, Pawbert observes the weasel courier passing something small and metallic to a serval, who is then escorted through a restricted maintenance door by the corrupt jackal guard with badge 1984. Pawbert catalogs everything mentally, having no notebook to record his observations.

Officer Kett escalates Pawbert's concerns to the new warden, Knox Ironsnout, a bureaucrat promoted after Warden Hartwell's death during the Clawrence extraction. Ironsnout dismisses everything, characterizing Pawbert as a paranoid convict desperate to feel important. When Kett presses about Pawbert's safety in gen pop, the warden's callousness becomes clear—he suggests Pawbert should have thought about that before betraying his family. Kett leaves knowing the warden won't help.

During yard time, Stripes' crew spreads out to question the displaced PC inmates about the upcoming operation. Pawbert spots a gray wolf among them and his heart stops—the stance, the build, everything looks like Luther. But the tattoos are wrong; the claw marks run down the spine instead of the left shoulder blade. Pawbert stares, desperate, hoping. The wolf steps forward with contempt and shoves Pawbert hard to the ground. The crew laughs and walks away without looking back. Pawbert lies in the dust, scraped and winded, convincing himself it couldn't have been Luther.

The walk back to his cell becomes a gauntlet of harassment. A hyena shoulder-checks him. A jackal spits at his feet and makes crude remarks. Pawbert endures it all, repeating internally that the wolf wasn't Luther, couldn't have been Luther. He reaches his cell and breaks down, crying into his pillow with grief that feels older than him—the accumulated weight of weeks without Luther, of being stripped of everything that anchored him. The puma returns, observes Pawbert's breakdown, considers saying something, then decides to maintain their truce and says nothing.

That evening, Luther follows the weasel courier through the service areas of ZCF, moving like a shadow through maintenance corridors and avoiding guards who don't look too carefully. He discovers a clandestine meeting between the weasel, Mane, a boar in maintenance uniform, and the serval from the kitchen. Luther overhears critical intelligence: the PC block fire was deliberate—a distraction while bypass nodes were installed in A-Block and C-Block communications. Something is staged and ready in the sub-basement, waiting for a signal. Luther memorizes everything for his next dead drop.

The episode ends with a split-screen showing Luther and Pawbert lying in their cells, a hundred feet apart. Luther stares at the ceiling, consumed by guilt over what he had to do—he saw the hope in Pawbert's eyes, saw it collapse when he shoved him into the dirt. Pawbert stares at his own ceiling, clinging to the word "always" as his only anchor, convincing himself the wolf wasn't Luther. Neither sleeps. Tomorrow, Luther will investigate the sub-basement. Tomorrow, things will change. But tonight, two mammals who love each other are separated by concrete walls and the brutal demands of the mission.

Key Moments

• Krazek brokers Luther's introduction to Stripes, the A-Block gang boss
• Luther positions himself as an asset rather than a supplicant and joins the crew
• Pawbert and the puma cellmate establish a wary truce after the previous night's violence
• Pawbert observes the weasel passing a key to a serval, who is escorted through restricted doors
• Officer Kett escalates Pawbert's concerns to Warden Ironsnout, who dismisses them entirely
• Luther shoves Pawbert to the ground in the yard to maintain cover, devastating him
• Pawbert convinces himself the wolf wasn't Luther based on the different tattoo placement
• Pawbert endures a gauntlet of harassment walking back to his cell
• Pawbert breaks down crying in his cell while the puma maintains their truce
• Luther follows the weasel and discovers the PC fire was deliberate
• Luther learns bypass nodes are installed and something is staged in the sub-basement
• Split-screen parallel shows Luther and Pawbert lying awake in separate cells

Key Lines

Characters Introduced

Locations

• Zootopia Correctional Facility:
  • A-Block cells (Luther's cell with Krazek)
  • Gen pop cells (Pawbert's temporary housing with puma)
  • Mess hall (Stripes' center table)
  • Kitchen (weasel/serval exchange)
  • Admin wing and warden's office
  • Yard
  • Maintenance corridors and junction

Items

• Metallic key - Passed from weasel to serval; grants access to restricted maintenance areas
• Bypass nodes - Communication system overrides installed in A-Block and C-Block; part of the conspiracy infrastructure
• Sub-basement cache - Something staged and ready, waiting for the signal (contents unknown until E05)
• STAY notebook - Inaccessible; still in PC block pending fire assessment; Pawbert catalogs observations mentally
• Laminated photo - Inaccessible; still in PC cell 3C-17

Notes

• The PC fire from S03E03 is confirmed as deliberate, designed to create chaos while bypass nodes were installed.
• Ironsnout's dismissiveness directly enables the conspiracy to proceed unchecked.
• This is Krazek's transformation from terrorized cellmate to useful broker; he finds value in being helpful rather than just being afraid.
• Day 124 of Pawbert's sentence.
• The title references Tripwire (Jack Reacher). All Season 3 episode titles reference novels from the James Bond, Jack Reacher, or Jack Ryan series.